Two children drown in rainwater-filled pit in Delhi’s Narela

Two minor boys, aged nine and 11, drowned in a rainwater-filled pit in Delhi’s Narela area on Thursday, police said.

The children, both residents of Bawana, had entered the pit to play and swim near 100 Foota, close to the DDA Flats in Narela, when they drowned.

Following a distress call, the police rushed to the spot. The children were pulled out of the pit and taken to Satyawadi Raja Harish Chandra Hospital in Narela, where doctors declared them dead.

Their bodies were sent for medico-legal proceedings and legal action has been initiated, police said. The exact circumstances leading to the children entering the pit and the sequence of events preceding their drowning are being ascertained.

The incident occurred amid heavy monsoon activity in the national capital, with several parts of Delhi witnessing waterlogging and accumulation of rainwater.

Following the incident, the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) expressed regret over the deaths and said the incident took place on vacant land adjoining Housing Pocket-4 in Sector G7/G8, Narela.

The DDA said the vacant plot had been secured with a boundary wall to prevent unauthorised access, but portions of the wall had been repeatedly damaged despite repairs.

“Such incidents of damage, theft and unauthorised activities in the area have also been brought to the notice of the local police through complaints/FIRs and other communications from time to time,” the agency said.

The DDA said it had repeatedly taken up security and law-and-order concerns in Sector G7/G8 with the Delhi Police. It added that a flat in Pocket-4 had already been allotted for a police chowki, while two additional LIG flats had been offered for setting up a police camp office.

The agency said it was extending all necessary cooperation to the police and other authorities and was examining further preventive measures, including strengthening the boundary wall and enhancing surveillance of vulnerable vacant plots in the area.

Further investigation into the incident is under way.